looking forward

first draft of a poem

looking forward

by becky ramgren


what do you look forward to?

a holiday
  a weekend
      the end of the workday?

can you hardly wait for

your birthday
  the due date
      the day of birth?

what about

the first snow of winter
  the first rain of spring
      the warm freedom of summer?

are you looking forward to

a vacation
  a weekend get-away
    a moment just to get away?

do you anticipate

an event
  time with someone special
      time alone?

do you ever look forward to something

only to be
    disappointed?

life happens.

sometimes i find myself
looking back.

sometimes i hear myself
saying:  "what if..."    "if only..."

forgetting the pure pleasure of
      looking forward
          to something.


1/22/11